


Demon Cloaked In A Human's Skin

by 364_Unbirthdays



Category: Black Star -Theater Starless- (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demon Hunters, Alternate Universe - Demons, Gen, Kinda, Minor Violence, Not blatantly shippy but there is a lot of tension, Past One-Sided Relationship, Specifically past one-sided Rindou/Menou, introspective, linear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:47:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24452359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/364_Unbirthdays/pseuds/364_Unbirthdays
Summary: "Before setting off on his first solo mission, Yakou had mentally created a list of ways he had believed his mission would go.1.Success. Demon is dead. Data is collected2.Failure. Demon escaped, likely injuring him in the process. However, some data might be collected.3.Death. Demon called on it’s brethren and swarmed him. He was not the most talented hunter, he was certain he would not be able to survive that. This was almost better than option 2.He was pretty sure he had covered all his bases, but this particular demon had decided to pick the nonexistent fourth option.4. Demon, upon getting its head sliced off and chest run through, picked its head back up and laughed in his face."Demon and Demon Hunter AU feat. Menou and Yakou
Relationships: Yakou (BSTS) & Menou (BSTS)
Kudos: 3





	Demon Cloaked In A Human's Skin

**Author's Note:**

> This is only a multi-chaptered fic because I feel like I wouldn't be able to finish it if it was a one-shot, like that ginsei/yakou fic that's lying dead in my inventory. No spoilers for the main story, of course, but spoilers for Menou and Yakou's dynamics in S2Ch4.
> 
> warning: I cannot write fight scenes.

Before setting off on his first solo mission, Yakou had mentally created a list of ways he had believed his mission would go.

1\. Success. Demon is dead. Data is collected

2\. Failure. Demon escaped, likely injuring him in the process. However, some data might be collected.

3\. Death. Demon called on it’s brethren and swarmed him. He was not the most talented hunter, he was certain he would not be able to survive that. This was almost better than option 2.

He was pretty sure he had covered all his bases, but this particular demon had decided to pick the nonexistent fourth option.

4\. Demon, upon getting its head sliced off and chest run through, picked its head back up and laughed in his face.

Yakou had never felt so humiliated in his entire life. How had it not died? He’d had no problem finishing off demons before, when he was working in a team with Shinju. Was this demon special? No, it couldn’t be— it wasn’t even a higher-level demon, just one of the small-fry ones he had encountered before, so why—

It’s was still laughing those short, amused huffs as it positioned its head back on. Yakou, with slightly morbid curiosity, watched as the flesh around the area melted and fused back together effortlessly to create nary a scar.

It wasn’t a sight he hadn’t seen before, not by any means. Back when he was still teamed up with others, he had encountered some higher-level demons who proved to be a bit of a challenge by always healing themselves up if they couldn't separate the fallen limb from the creature in time.

But there was something different about watching the seams slowly fuse together, as if it were some kind of slime or liquid. There was no blood, none at all, which only made it more fearsome.

“Usually, hunters who have tracked me down are highly skilled and highly interesting,” it said conversationally, laughter subsiding but amusement never fading. “But you are boring.”

“I— _what?_ ” Yakou spluttered, coloring. He gripped his hunting blade tightly, willing himself not to blow up on the damned creature lest he doom himself to an ungracious death.

He would not let this demon get the better of him. He could not. He had to kill it.

“Don’t try to fool me, demon,” he calmly forced out, feeling his nails digging into his flesh. Do not let it overwhelm you. _Do not let it overwhelm you._ “I’m not here to play games.”

“You’re not?” it said, with pure, innocent candor. “That’s too bad. What are you here for, then?”

“To kill you,” he replied, programmed words slipping out of his mouth naturally as breathing, cool and trained. “Why else would a demon hunter stand in front of a demon?”

The demon laughed again. It was more like a giggle, really, with those short huffs. A giggle, laced with mild amusement and something else

He had met many shape-shifting demons in the past, in his joint missions, and had slain equally as many. Demons were usually obviously inhuman, stumbling through the words their throats strained to form, malicious and unfeeling even as they tore through their human vessel to reveal their true, monstrous form.

Yet this one spoke smoothly and laughed as easily as it breathed, its facial muscles obeying its every command. 

No wonder they hadn't been able to locate until years after it rooted itself into human society.

Disgusting.

“You aren’t killing me, though,” the demon pointed out. “You are quite dull, aren't you?”

Somewhere, at the furthest corner of his brain, Yakou acknowledged that this was a fair assessment. Not only had he failed to kill the demon despite knocking its head clean off its shoulders, it hadn’t even been scathed in the slightest. It was mocking him, and rightfully so. 

In fact, he should be glad that he was still alive— the demon could kill him at any moment. He should not do anything to aggravate it, and instead withdraw silently and make another attempt at another time.

His mouth, however, did not waste time acknowledging these thoughts.

_“Shut up,_ you damned creature!”

He moved before he could think, body lunging forward and swinging his blade as hard and as fast as he could, heartbeat drowning out his surroundings. He slashed straight across, his blade burying itself deeply into the demon’s skull and carrying the creature with its momentum, slamming its head down onto the concrete, a deafening _CRACK!_ splitting the air around him.

It should be dead.

There was a reason demons revealed their true form once found out. When their human body died, they died as well. Thus, most demons opted to return to their true form in order to either preserve their life or gain advantage in a fight.

Then why was the demon looking curiously up at him with those blood eyes?

It should be dead. It should be _dead._ There was no way it could not be dead.

And yet it wasn’t, despite the long, thick blade buried in its skull. Despite being crushed down onto the concrete. Despite the previous beheading. Despite everything, it blinked up at him owlishly, not even a drop of blood flowing down its face. 

He kissed his teeth loudly, digging his heel down on the demon’s back and wrenching the blade out of its skull. He had _not_ lost. He still had this. He could still do it. He could still kill it.

He had to kill it. There was no other choice.

“That must be the ‘anger’ he experienced,” the demon said curiously. “I see.”

“You— you _what_ ?!” His voice rose to carry the last word, incredulous and disbelieving. “ _You—”_

“Hey,” it said conversationally. “Why are you angry? Tell me.”

Yakou spluttered, struggling to grasp any word that could come to him, limbs trembling yet unable to move. He could feel the fury, bubbling underneath his skin, threatening to burst through and spill out, but no, no, he couldn’t, if he did, if someone found out—

The demon pushed itself up, the action smooth and easy despite the heel of Yakou’s boot digging into its flesh. It was almost lazy, the way it sat up, slouching and stretching its limbs. 

“Come,” it said, voice strangely soft, coaxing. “Tell me, why are you angry?”

“I want to kill you,” he said, his mouth working faster than his brain. “ _Let me kill you._ You disgust me.”

“Why?” 

“You’re a _demon_ , I have no obligation to answer you.”

“Then why are you?” 

The childlike way the demon said it was uncomfortable, the extreme lack of malice present in its voice leaving Yakou with an unfamiliar, skittish feeling. 

By logic, this demon would kill him. Kill him, so that he wouldn’t report this to the headquarters, who were able to send people who could finish the job. 

And yet, he could sense no will to fight. No intention to aggravate. Every word spoken was one that it meant deeply, genuinely. Not only that, it had not even moved to hurt him. And that made it all the more terrifying.

“If physical attacks won’t work,” he replied helplessly to this red-eyed tempter, his words sounding like plastic to his own ears, “then verbal attacks may.”

“Oh, is that how it worked?” the demon said, peering up at him with lidded eyes. “That’s strange… that’s not how he did it.”

“Shut _up_ ,” he hissed through gritted teeth, “and let me kill you.”

The demon smiled— or at least, made an expression Yakou assumed to be an attempt at a smile. It was more of a baring of teeth, really. Its upper and bottom lips pulling back to expose the waxy white underneath. It was mocking. It was a threat. But there was no malice.

“You can’t,” it said with ice cold humor. Lightly, as if it knew something he didn’t. “We could sit here, in this shelter, all day, and you wouldn’t be able to.”

It was true. Yakou had realized this, since the first attempt. The demon hadn’t even spilled blood, it had calmly reattached it's head and laughed. That had been his cleanest cut in a while, and the demon had shrugged it off like no big deal. They would likely be here forever before Yakou could land a proper cut.

But he wouldn’t accept it. He _could not_ accept it. Everything was riding on this mission. He had to finish it, kill this demon and go back victorious with the data samples, or everything was over. 

He was not a failure. He was not a failure. _He could not be a failure._

“Hey,” the demon said. Light as a feather, yet cleanly slicing through his thoughts like a cold knife through heat. “Tell me about yourself, Mister Hunter.”

…..?

“ _What?_ ” 

It grinned again, blood eyes glinting, and with lightning speed, it snatched Yakou’s blade out of his hands. In one, swift motion, it sliced open its palm, and offered it forward.

Blood. Beads of pure red and black, curled together as if to proclaim the corrupt nature of the body in front of him. 

Slowly, fully aware that he was watching, the demon brought its hand up to his mouth and lazily dragged its tongue across the wound, flaunting the way the wound sealed back up, scarless, as it passed over the cut skin. Though it soon healed without a single trace, the demon had shown something to him.

It was not his blade. The blade could cut the demon just fine.

It was him.

“I said you were boring earlier, but I changed my mind. You’re pretty interesting, so if you tell me about yourself…

“I’ll teach you how to kill me.”

  
  
  
  


“Hey, Yakou! How did it go? Was the mission a success?”

Yakou turned tiredly to the source of the voice. Shinju. Of course. Who else could brighten the world with just their voice? Who else could sound so completely trusting, so sincere?

Something in his stomach twisted cruelly. 

“Hey, Shinju,” he replied with a wave, because this was Shinju, and he couldn't possibly be rude to Shinju. “No, the demon wasn’t there. I did manage to take some items that were in its lair, though. It could be used for analysis.”

He dug his hand into his satchel and fished out an old scarf, ratty and dirty with the traces of a demon. He offered it to Shinju, who looked at it with an honestly unfair amount of interest. 

“That’s so cool. Is that some kind of sentimental item? I didn’t know demons could be sentimental,” he said, eyes shining. 

Yakou forced out a huff, hoping it came out natural and light. “Neither did I. I was pretty confused when I first found it, and I think the guys in the lab would appreciate something like this, so I wouldn’t count it as a total failure.”

Shinju laughed, so genuine and kind that his heart clenched tightly into itself. “I’m not too sure what Maica would say to that, though! He might give you a bit of an attitude.”

“Maica _always_ gives me a bit of an attitude,” he said with a smile. “Anyways, you’d better not be feeling bad for demons, now that you know they can get sentimental. It’d be just like you, hesitating over a kill just because you feel guilty.”

Shinju gasped in mock offense then pouted, huffily crossing his arms over his chest. “I would never! You doubt my abilities, Yakou!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Yakou replied, turning around and waving Shinju goodbye. “I gotta go hand this over to the guys at the lab before they tear my head off. Bye, Shinju.”

Shinju laughed again and left, and whatever lightness he had brought with him vanished as well.

  
And Yakou thought, his memories full of blood eyes and bared teeth and gentle amusement, _You overestimate me, Shinju._

**Author's Note:**

> hmu on discord at 365-Unbirthdays#4408. I like yakou


End file.
